Mkotch

I had no idea that it matters!

Geri B

First eyes up....little speckles....and yes, it could matter....if it is needled and put up wrong could cause little puffs of batting to come thru the back...being pushed thru by the force and speed of the needle....on a L/A anyway.

sewbizgirl

I had no idea it mattered, either. I tend to put the smoothest side up, so I've been doing it wrong. Never had any trouble with 'bearding' tho.... but I fmq on my dsm only. You learn a lot reading on the Quilting Board!

I too have switched to Hobbs 80/20 because it feels like the cotton but is so much lighter and IMO, nicer. It has a little loft, and the W&W doesn't. It's my favorite.

MarthaT

So, is there a right and wrong side of Hobbs 80/20? (Is that the same as Hobbs Heirloom?)

I am mostly a hand quilter and love Hobbs Polydown for hand quilting, but those occasions when I use cotton, I find Warm and Natural hard to needle. So have bought some Hobbs Heirloom to try. Maybe I had the wrong side up on the W&N.

I also prefer cotton for DSM quilting, which I rarely do because I love the therapy of hand quilting.

Onebyone

I don't bother with right or wrong side of batting. It touches fabric either way.

Jingle

Thanks for putting a link to the web site.

Jingle

I really prefer high loft polyester batting for my own quilts and all I use for me.
This year I bought polyester batting in a large roll for my donation quilts. It was much cheaper than W&W.

jjs56

I never knew this! Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks? I have a bolt of Warm and White on my longarm and, as Jingle said, it looks the same on both sides. I went the website and found this in their FAQ:

Is there a right or a wrong side to Warm & Natural or Warm & White?
No, there is no right or wrong side of batting but there is a "scrim" side. When manufacturing Warm & Natural or Warm & White, the cotton fibers are layered onto a scrim - a thin substrate material. During the needle-punch process, barbed needles push the cotton fibers through and entangle them into the scrim. When quilting Warm & Natural or Warm & White, it is usually easier to do so in the same direction it was needle-punched - the cotton side facing towards your quilt top and the scrim side facing to your quilt backing. With Warm & Natural the cotton side is distinguished by its leaf & stem remnants (face to quilt top). With Warm & White there is a side that is shinier and smoother. This is the scrim side and should face to your quilt backing.
You have to have good light or younger eyes than mine to see the shine, but it's there.

Bree123

Most Hobbs products are bonded fibers instead of needle punched like W&N/W&W. So, it doesn't have a scrim & therefore either side can go up. The ones labeled "with scrim" should have the smoother, slicker side facing down.

It's the scrim that makes W&N/W&W tougher to hand quilt. They are nice because of how flat they are, but that scrim is tricky for sure. With hand quilting, you are moving the needle in both directions equally so the direction of the scrim shouldn't make as much difference as it does on a machine.

Another possibility if you want an inexpensive all cotton product is Warm & Plush. It's 50% thicker than W&N so it gives fantastic definition to the quilting but it doesn't have a scrim so it's much easier to push a needle through. I use it for both machine & hand quilting. The only downside is that due to its thickness, I cannot load very many stitches on my needle at once, even with long needles like ThimbleLady's. I bought mine at Walmart.com. For more money, I love the thinner Hobbs Organic Cotton, but that's a splurge for sure.